Acceptance
by selana1505
Summary: Companion piece to my story a href /s/9114774/1/Bad-ideasBad Ideas/a *** I've been asked to write about how Loki gets accepted by the different members of the Avengers, so here you go... For a change, no smut in this ;-)
1. Prologue

**Notes**: Thanks to my beta faeleverte who, as always, was a great help in getting this done, and thanks to Vivienne and Nancy, who stepped in at last minute to help me as well.

**Disclaimer**: Unfortunately I don't own the Avengers or any of the characters, I just borrow them for some fun

Tony stumbles up from the workshop in the middle of the night, exhausted after working for way too long on his latest project. He can barely keep his eyes open, but when he turns toward the bed with the intention of just dropping onto it he stops dead. Loki is there, sleeping, the sheets a tangled mess that's doing nothing to hide his naked body from Tony's gaze. Tony has to smile, and lets his eyes wander over the sleeping form of the man - no, the god - in his bed.

It's been two months since the team found out about him and Loki, since Fury tried to interfere. In that short time so much has changed, because they don't have to hide their relationship any more. More often than not he and Loki spend the night together, but this here is new. Loki sleeping in Tony's bed even when Tony isn't there, when they have not had sex first, that is a surprise - though definitely not an unpleasant one.

And the way he and Loki interact is not the only thing that has changed, after the confrontation with Fury the rest of the Avengers seem to have accepted - or at least tolerated - Loki much more easily than Tony would have imagined. By now he is just another part of the team during battle, and even at the Tower most of Tony's friends accept Loki's presence without a problem.

Tony smiles again, then quickly strips out of his grease stained clothes and slips under the covers, smiling when Loki turns into his embrace without waking up. Tony closes his eyes and almost immediately falls asleep.


	2. Siblings

Tony hadn't been surprised that Thor was the first to accept Loki's presence, to even welcome it. Though judging from everything he knew about their relationship, he'd wondered why Loki suddenly tolerated Thor's attempts to behave as if nothing had happened to drive them apart. Then one morning he came out of the workshop after spending the night there and heard voices from around the corner.

"Brother, wait, I wish to talk to you." Thor's voice thundered through the hallway.

"I am NOT your brother, I never was." Loki sounded strained but calm, as if they had had this discussion too many times before. "And I do not wish to talk to you, I am on my way to see Tony." Loki's footsteps approached.

"Loki..." Thor's voice trailed off when Loki didn't stop.

Tony thought about retreating to the workshop again, he was not sure if they would mind that he'd overheard them. But it was too late, Loki had walked around the corner and spotted him. A smile spread on Loki's face, replacing the frown that had been there before.

"JARVIS informed me when I arrived that you had spent the night at the workshop, I was on my way to see if you would like to have breakfast or if you are too busy and need me to leave again."

Tony smiled back. "Not too busy and I'm still wired from all the coffee I had, breakfast sounds like a good plan. No idea when I've eaten last, but it's been a while."

"Your last meal was 18 hours ago, sir. Not counting the energy bar you had 4 hours ago."

"Thank you, JARVIS." Tony rolled his eyes at his AI.

"Then I have to make sure you are well fed before you get some sleep." Loki grinned, then turned around and led the way up to Tony's kitchen. Thor was nowhere to be seen; he must have left during their short conversation.

After this, Tony was curious and paid more attention to the interaction between Thor and Loki. He noticed that Loki was polite to Thor whenever someone else was present, but did never initiate any conversation between them. Sometimes they switched to a language Tony didn't understand, but from their tense posture it was pretty obvious that they were arguing about something. Tony didn't ask about it, but he let Loki know that he had noticed. No need to pressure him to talk about something he'd rather keep quiet; neither Tony nor Loki found it easy to talk about personal matters.

Two days later, Loki was watching a movie with Tony when an alarm came in: a few Doombots had been sighted. Natasha and Clint were on a SHIELD mission, Steve and Bruce were not at the Tower for whatever reason, Tony didn't really care, only Thor was at home.

"JARVIS, inform Thor of the situation and tell him to come up here, we have some fighting to do." He turned to Loki. "Are you up to smashing some very unimaginative robots? Otherwise I'll have to call Steve and Bruce in from wherever they are."

Loki grinned, stood up and summoned his armour on. "What are you waiting for, Stark? Or do you expect me to fight on my own?" His eyes glimmered with humour and excitement.

"Not everyone can change clothes that quickly, Harry Potter." Tony shot back, then turned to his bedroom to change into the undersuit.

Just when he was dressed, Thor appeared, and they walked out onto the landing platform together, where Tony had the suit assemble around him.

"JARVIS, coordinates?" Tony demanded while he handed comms to Thor and Loki. The required data appeared on his display and he read it out loud for the others. "Loki, you need a ride? Or can you teleport?"

"It will not be necessary to carry me around, Tony, I will get there on my own and wait for you." Loki replied tersely, with an almost imperceptible glance at Thor. Oh, right, can't show any weakness in front of his brother.

Tony closed the faceplate of his suit before rolling his eyes, then said: "See you there then." He took off, Thor flying at his side.

Barely a minute later they were at their destination, Tony could spot two Doombots from his current position, where he was circling over the buildings. They were attacking people on the street, it seemed to be a rather random action, there was no obvious purpose behind their selection of victims.

"Loki, where are you?"

"Down here, waiting for you." A short glimmer of green light drew Tony's attention to Loki's position on the roof of a nearby building.

"Got you. Thor, Loki, can you handle the two bots on the ground? I want to have a look around if there are more."

They both agreed, and Tony took off, noticing the surprising silence on the comm. He shrugged, they should know what they were doing. For now he had more important things to do but worry about squabbling siblings. With just the three of them they couldn't afford a surprise attack.

When he was certain that there were no more attackers around, he turned back to where Thor and Loki were fighting the two Doombots - or rather the one that was left, the second one lay shattered on the street. He was immediately fascinated: they fought together like they had done it all their life - which they probably had, now that he thought of it. It looked almost like a perfectly choreographed dance, not a fight. The Doombot didn't stand a chance against the combined attacks of Thor's hammer, Loki's spear and magic. Tony watched in astonishment as Loki leapt forward with his spear, embedded it in the bot, then danced out of the way of Thor's hammer - there was no other word for those graceful movements. When that didn't destroy the bot, Loki threw a wave of green magic at it which pushed it back towards Thor, who grabbed Mjolnir out of the air at just the right moment to smash it down on the bot that was now right in front of him. They grinned at each other when the bot didn't move any more, then turned searching looks upwards for Tony.

"Friend Tony, are there any more of those mechanical creatures for us to fight?" Thor seemed eager for more.

"I'm sorry to disappoint, but you've already killed all of them. Wow, that was impressive to watch, the two of you fighting together like that." The words tumbled out of Tony's mouth without any conscious thought.

Loki's expression hardened, he looked from Tony to Thor and back again. "If you do not need me any more, I will return home now." He didn't even wait for a reply, was just gone.

"Dammit!" Tony swore, then he called SHIELD and asked for a clean-up team, which arrived a few minutes later.

"Come on, Thor, let's go home." He could not stand to watch the sad look on Thor's face that had appeared after Loki's sudden departure. "We'll order pizza and watch a movie, how's that sound."

"That is a good plan for after battle, Tony." Thor forced a smile.

Tony had hoped to find Loki at the Tower, but he wasn't there, had obviously gone back to his apartment. So he spent the night with Thor. Steve and Bruce joined them later. They watched silly movies, told the others about their fight, and generally did everything but mention Loki apart from his help in battle.

Once Tony was back in his penthouse, he had JARVIS call up video footage of the day when Loki had helped them for the first time and Thor had talked to him. It had seemed all very friendly to Tony, but he had been exhausted and half asleep, so he might have missed something. And he wanted to understand what was going on between them - if only to avoid hitting any sore spots for either of them in future.

_He saw Thor enter his bedroom on the screen, looking down at Loki's sleeping form with a concerned and fond expression. Loki opened his eyes, blinked a few times as if to remember where he was, then spotted Thor standing there._

_"Go away, Thor, I do not need your pity." His voice was rough and he sounded as tired as he looked._

_"I merely wanted to see for myself that you were unharmed, brother." Thor's voice was sad._

_"I am NOT your brother, Thor, didn't you listen to your father?" Loki sat up in bed, seemingly unwilling to have this conversation while laying down._

_"You've been my brother for a very long time, how could I just forget about it?" Thor send a pleading look Loki's way. "But I do not wish to fight with you."_

_"Then what do you want?" Loki asked exasperatedly._

_"I have noticed that you found your way into the Man of Iron's heart..." Thor hesitated. "I do not wish to see him hurt, not by you or anyone else..." His voice trailed off._

_Loki rolled his eyes. "I do not intend to hurt him. Do you think I would have warned him and fought on his side if I did not care about him?"_

_Thor sat down at the foot of the bed, looking relieved. "Good, because he is my friend and shield brother. And I do not want to see you hurt either."_

_Before Loki could reply, Tony walked into the bedroom._

Hmm, obviously things hadn't been as easy between them as it had seemed at first. Though Tony was glad to see Thor's concern about both of them. Without full knowledge of what had happened in their past, there was nothing he could do. He shrugged and decided to not intrude into their privacy any more than he already had and didn't watch the footage of their conversation that had happened later that day, after everyone else had left. But just in case he needed to at some point, he had JARVIS make a translation.

Loki called him a day later, caller ID hidden for the first time since Tony had shown up at his apartment.

"Hey, you're hiding again, or is it supposed to be a challenge for me?" Tony greeted him.

"I would appreciate if you did not try to remove my spell for now, Tony." Loki replied almost hesitantly. "I have some things to take care of in private and do not wish to announce my location to anyone, not even you." He quickly added: "You do not need to be concerned, I am not doing anything harmful, just have to take care of a few personal things."

Tony let out the breath he had been holding. "Okay, I trust you." Part of him didn't, thoughts whirled through his mind what on earth Loki could be doing that would require him to stay hidden from everyone, but he refused to act on this suspicion as long as he didn't have anything more substantial to worry about. "Was there a particular reason you were calling or did you just miss me and couldn't wait another moment to hear my voice?" He teased to relieve the tension.

"I merely wanted to let you know that I will be away for two or three days, I did not want you to worry." Loki replied calmly, but Tony could hear his grin.

"I'll try not to get too lonely here, with all those people around and my work to distract me." Tony smiled as well.

"Good, I will let you know when I am back." Tony could hear Loki take a deep breath. "And thank you for trusting me, Tony."

"You are very welcome." Tony felt a bit ashamed for his earlier thoughts.

They talked for a few more minutes about unimportant things, then Tony went back to his work, trying not to worry about Loki's behaviour.

Loki came back three days later and almost literally fell into Tony's bed. It was a night Tony wouldn't forget any time soon. The next morning they talked for a long time, Loki repaid Tony's trust in him by telling him what he had done while he was away.

"So basically you've built yourself a new safehouse, because you're fine with me knowing where you live, but you can't be sure that nobody else found out by following or tracking me?" Tony summed up, when Loki had finished.

"Yes, and you had your driver take you there, I don't know him at all; how could I trust him?"

"If he wasn't trustworthy, he wouldn't work for me any more." Tony made sure he was looking Loki straight in the eyes when he continued: "But I get that you need a place where you feel completely safe, so I won't ask you any more about it."

"Thank you." Loki looked relieved. "And I will not give up the place I am living at, I just needed an alternative in case of emergency."

After this things between Thor and Loki were back to the way they were before - Thor was seeking Loki's attention, Loki tried to avoid Thor and was painfully polite to him when others were present. But when they had to fight, they still worked together like a well oiled machine - only now Tony was wiser and didn't talk about it any more, so Loki didn't feel the need to run away after a fight.


	3. Monsters

Bruce had accepted Loki's presence surprisingly fast. Tony didn't think Bruce ever avoided visiting him just because Loki was there - and a lot of the time they all ended up discussing science and magic and how the two could interact.

It wasn't really that strange that Bruce was fascinated by intelligent conversation and gaining knowledge - in that regard he was a lot like Tony. And Loki seemed to be the same, willing to learn whatever he could about the world he had chosen to live in. Since he was intelligent enough to keep up with their explanations, and asked the right questions if they were talking over his head, it was a pleasure to teach him.

Sometimes Tony even found Bruce and Loki engaged in conversation when he came up from the workshop - apparently Loki had arrived at the penthouse while Bruce was there looking for Tony, and they had been so distracted by whatever they were talking about that they had completely forgotten to come and see him. He had to grin when that happened, after all he knew how easy it was to have his plans derailed by a new idea.

Despite the easy conversations they had, Loki was careful not to run into Bruce anywhere outside of Tony's apartment or workshop - he still had a lot of respect of the Hulk. And yet, when he was with Bruce he didn't treat him with kid gloves like some people did, never seemed to be afraid to challenge or tease him - and Bruce appreciated this. Apparently that respect didn't keep Loki from playing stupid pranks on Bruce, though.

About two weeks after the confrontation with Fury, Tony got jolted out of his thoughts about how to improve the Widow's armour without restricting her movements by Bruce storming into his workshop and yelling at him.

"Keep your boyfriend under control, or I swear, I will let the Hulk out and redecorate whatever floor I am on!" He stopped right in front of Tony. "Look at what he did!"

Tony glanced up and couldn't help it, he almost fell to the floor because he was laughing so hard. Bruce was standing in front of him, hair and skin still dripping from a recent shower, wearing only a purple towel around his hips. He was still very much human sized, but every bit of visible skin had turned the exact shade of green the Hulk had, his hair was standing up wildly.

"What... what happened?" He gasped out when he had his laughter under control again.

"I was taking a shower and after I used my shampoo, I was green!" Bruce was still yelling. "And believe me, I'm very close to turning big and green. This is not funny!"

"Sorry, but it is, you should see yourself..." Tony dissolved in another fit of giggles. "JARVIS, call Loki down here immediately, don't tell him why but make sure he knows it is important," he instructed, then grinned at Bruce. "I admit, you might not be the best person to play a prank on, but this is a good one."

Before Bruce could reply, Loki appeared next to the sofa in Tony's workshop, an area that Tony had taken to keeping free for just this purpose. When he spotted Bruce in his current state, Loki smirked and tried to vanish again.

"Oh no, Loki, you're not going to leave me with him like that if you want to get laid anytime soon," Tony announced, still giggling occasionally. "I do appreciate a good prank, but I really don't want a Hulk in my workshop ever."

"You are no fun." Loki shot back, then turned towards Bruce again. "The colour suits you..."

"GET IT OFF!" Bruce roared.

Loki gulped, the grin had completely vanished. "Please, calm down and stand still, Bruce, I will undo the spell in a moment."

Bruce didn't move, but Tony could see his muscles tremble under the effort to control himself. It only took a second or two, then the green colour slowly vanished, leaving Bruce looking like himself again.

"You really should find a less dangerous target for things like that." Tony chided Loki. "Or at least prank people when you are around to face them, don't leave me to deal with their anger."

"Where would be the fun in that? It is much better to watch from a safe distance." Loki smirked at him, a challenge in his eyes. Then his expression turned serious again. "I apologize, Bruce. I really did mean no harm, I thought it would be fun. The effect would have worn off in a short while even without my interference."

"Don't do it again." Bruce grumbled, then had to grin himself. "But feel free to turn Tony any colour you like, he had way too much fun at my expense. Do you think blue would suit him?"

"What?" Tony gasped out.

"Oh no, blue is much more my colour." For a few seconds Loki's skin turned blue, with darker patterns on it, and his eyes were a bright red. Then, as soon as it had appeared, the colour was gone again. "You might not be the only one with a monster inside," Loki said wistfully. "And I really have to apologize, I would not think it amusing at all if someone had turned my skin blue to show what lurks inside. I did not think about this, but my joke was in bad taste."

"It's okay," Bruce replied, obviously stunned by Loki's admission and apology. "Just don't do it again."

"I won't."

With that Bruce left, presumably to finish his shower, and Tony was alone with Loki - and a puddle on the floor where Bruce had stood. He tried to process what he had just seen. "Care to explain what this was?" He gestured at Loki.

"Another time, Tony." Loki gave him an indecipherable look. "Right now I have to leave. Your call interrupted my work on a new spell and I have to finish it as soon as possible. But JARVIS made it sound like an emergency, so I came right away."

"Tonight?"

"Yes, but I will call when my spell is done, I cannot tell yet how much longer it will take." Loki smiled apologetically. "This is delicate work and I would rather not interrupt it a second time."

"No need to explain that to me." Tony waved a hand around, indicating the projects scattered around his workshop. "I have my own share of things I want or have to finish."

"Then I will see you tonight."

Loki left after they shared a heated kiss, and Tony went back to work.

Tony would have thought this prank would have annoyed Bruce, but no, he seemed to get along even better with Loki after that. Again, nobody talked to Tony about it, so he could only guess that it had to do with the sincere apology and Loki's admission that there was more to him than met the eye. Loki still hadn't explained it to him, but Tony was hesitant to approach the subject.

Their next battle happened shortly after, Clint and Natasha were still on an assignment, but Steve, Bruce, Thor and Tony got called in by Director Fury. They didn't consult with Fury, just shared a look, then invited Loki to join them.

They worked together nicely, Loki seemed to accept Steve's leadership in battle and even the Hulk did not attack Loki - apart from an almost absent minded swipe at Loki's back when he got too close to the Hulk and there were no enemies to fight for the moment. After that, Loki was a lot more careful around the Hulk, but nothing else happened. And since Thor got punched at least once per fight by the Hulk as well, it was nothing too out of the ordinary.

It seemed that not only Bruce, but his alter ego as well had accepted Loki as an ally for now.


	4. Allies

Steve had first accepted Loki in battle, especially after they had fought side by side again and Loki seemed to follow his orders. At least he did so most of the time, but Steve was used to that behaviour from Tony.

Loki was an incredible asset during fights, not only could his magic provide help they previously didn't have, he was almost as strong in armed combat using his spear as Thor was with Mjolnir. Steve admitted to Tony one evening that he would be stupid to refuse the help of such a skilled fighter with unique talents - but that it didn't mean that he trusted Loki entirely.

"You know, just because I fight at his side, I don't have to like him," Steve explained, waving his can of soda around. "I certainly didn't like every soldier who was fighting with me - apart from the Howling Commandos of course, we were something special."

"I get it." Tony nodded. "And I don't ask you to become best friends with him, you know that, right?"

Loki chose that moment to arrive at Tony's apartment and walk out of the bedroom into the living area where Steve and Tony were sitting.

"Am I intruding?" Loki asked with a glance to Steve.

Steve shifted uncomfortably, put his soda down and stood up. "No, I was about to leave anyway."

"It did not look like you were when I entered, you do not have to leave on my accord." Loki stepped right in front of Steve. "I arrived unannounced, I can retreat again if the two of you have something to talk about." He turned to Tony. "Do you wish to continue your conversation with Captain Rogers? I should have called first to make sure you have time."

"Hey there." Tony pulled Loki down for a quick kiss. "If you don't mind. I can call you later, or come by your place."

Loki stole another kiss from Tony, then straightened up again. "Then I will leave you for now, I will spend the evening at home if you want to see me, Tony." He turned back to Steve and smiled. "Please, Captain, sit down again and continue your conversation with Tony. I have no intention to come between him and his friends." With that he teleported away and left a startled Steve staring at the now empty spot in front of Tony.

"That was awkward." He blushed slightly. "I'm not sure there is much more to say, Tony."

"Don't be stupid, Steve. Sit, have another drink and talk to me." Tony rolled his eyes at him.

This time Steve actually listened and resumed his previous seat on the sofa. They talked for a while longer about Loki and whether it was good for the team - both in a personal and in a professional manner - to have him as an ally.

Steve admitted that Loki's behaviour had surprised him, and that maybe he really wasn't trying to alienate Tony from his friends. That was one of the concerns Steve had had about their relationship. When Steve left an hour later, Tony drove to Loki's apartment and spent the night there.

From that day on, Steve didn't avoid Loki's presence quite as obviously as he had done before. And when they were in the same room, they treated each other with respect and politeness. They were not friends, far from it, but Steve slowly began to accept that Loki was a part of Tony's life now - and that they would have to interact if Steve wanted to stay Tony's friend.

Even more than in private, they worked easily together in battle. And since Steve accepted Loki as an ally, Natasha and Clint didn't protest too much about his help either - and maybe slowly came to appreciate it as well.


	5. Antagonists

Natasha fought well alongside Loki, didn't hesitate to use his unique abilities to her advantage - just like she did with everyone else on the team. It was breathtaking to watch her get a boost from Steve's shield to reach a target higher up - or to see her guide opponents she couldn't defeat close to Thor or the Hulk and dodge out of the way just in the nick of time. And almost from the first moment on she did the same with Loki when he was fighting with them. She didn't even hesitate to accept when he offered to cast a spell on her to increase her strength or stamina in a long fight - Tony had been quite surprised at that.

As soon as a fight had ended, though, she ignored Loki completely and avoided his presence whenever possible. JARVIS had told Tony that she always asked whether Loki was with him before she came up to his penthouse or his workshop - and that more often than not she decided to talk to him at another time. When she could not help it and had to see Tony in Loki's presence, she ignored Loki completely, pretended he wasn't in the room at all.

That's why Tony was really surprised when he came out of the shower one afternoon and heard Loki and Natasha talking from the living room. He hesitated, then decided to listen; he was just too curious what this was about.

"Keep that in mind, Loki." Natasha's voice sounded hard and cold. "If I have to, I can kill you before you even notice that I'm there. So don't do anything stupid where Clint and Tony are concerned." A short pause. "Do we understand each other?"

"Perfectly." Loki's voice had a slightly amused tone. "Believe me, you will have no reason to assassinate me. I will not intentionally cause any harm to Clint or Tony."

"Good. Then tell Tony to let me know when he has time for me. I have something that I need his help with and don't want to wait for him now."

"I will do that, Agent Romanov."

Tony heard Natasha walk away, then the elevator door opened and closed again.

Loki came into the bedroom, just when Tony turned around to his wardrobe to get dressed. Strong arms closed around him from behind and Loki pressed himself against Tony's back.

"Your friends really care about you a lot, Tony." Loki's breath brushed against Tony's ear.

"I know. What was this all about, I heard the end of your conversation with Natasha." He leaned back into the embrace.

Loki chuckled, then took a step back. "Get dressed, Tony, or you'll have to take another shower and we won't get dinner at all. I will tell you all about it once you are less distracting."

Tony had to laugh at that too. "Then wait for me in the living room, I'll join you in a minute."

He dressed quickly into a comfortable pair of jeans and a well worn Black Sabbath shirt, then walked out into the living area where Loki had spread out their order of Chinese and some drinks on the coffee table. They ate in comfortable silence for a while, then Loki explained what Natasha had talked to him about.

"In short, she threatened to hurt or maim me if I break your heart. And then she threatened the same if I do anything that will disturb or harm Agent Barton." Loki smiled slightly. "She might not show it, but she does care about you."

"Yes, I can see that." Tony admitted, still stunned that Nat had given Loki a shovel talk.

There was no change noticeable in the way Natasha treated Loki. If he hadn't overheard their conversation, Tony wouldn't have thought that she ever had exchanged a single word with Loki outside of battle.

For a while things stayed like this, everything in a rather precarious balance between Loki and the rest of the team - but a balance it was.

And then, two weeks later, there was the fight that shook them all to the core - even if they came out on top, with minimal injuries. A magically talented would-be villain had mind controlled innocent bystanders into attacking them, with only makeshift weapons made out of whatever they had at hand. And they couldn't do anything but fight those people, hurting them in the process, if they didn't want to get overrun by their sheer number - of course their opponent had chosen a very busy street with lots of people for this. Meanwhile Loki prepared a spell to take down the man who was controlling their involuntary attackers from a rather secure vantage point.

Loki was so deep into working his own magic that he could not fight for himself, so they had formed a ring around him to allow him to keep his concentration. Tony was flying overhead, he needed to make sure that no nasty surprise was sneaking up on them. Clint sat on a nearby roof with his bow, but didn't dare to shoot since he knew that none of the people attacking them were doing it of their own accord. Then Tony saw Clint take a shot, the arrow flying straight at Loki. He gasped in shock, certain that Clint had snapped and was trying to kill Loki - until the arrow hit a stone that had been flung at Loki's head, and pushed it out of harms way before it could disrupt Loki's concentration.

Not long after that, Loki finally had managed to break the spell that controlled the people and they had to deal with confused, injured civilians. The wizard, or whatever he was, tried to get away, but Loki managed to subdue him while everyone else was busy doing first aid and calming down people. After what felt like an eternity, SHIELD arrived with ambulances and they could go home to deal with the fallout of this day.


	6. Truce

They all sat together in the common area of the Tower, for a change nobody seemed to mind Loki's presence, not even Clint.

"Dammit, why did he have to use mind control?" Clint looked close to breaking down. "And those people weren't even soldiers or mercenaries, they were just ordinary people." Clint's eyes swam with tears and Natasha pulled him close. Clint looked up at Loki, who seemed to be almost as shaken as Clint. "What you did to me was bad enough, but at least you didn't make me - or anyone else you controlled, as far as I know - do things we wouldn't normally do. You just pointed us towards different targets than usual." He took a shaky breath. "Not that I have forgiven you for that, but this was so much worse."

"I have to agree with you," Loki admitted. "I might not have done right by you and the other people I controlled, but at least I did not throw innocent people into a fight they would not be able to win." A shudder ran through him. "I am not trying to justify what I did to you, Agent Barton, but if you are willing to listen, I would like to explain why I saw no other way at the time."

Everyone else seemed to hold their breath during that exchange and looked expectantly at Clint now.

"Talk." Clint's expression hardened. "I'll listen, but don't expect me to forgive you."

"That was not my intention, I merely wish to explain to you that I was not entirely free in my actions as well."

Clint nodded and took a shaky breath, then Loki began to talk.

_He let go and fell, for so long, it felt like an eternity. There was darkness, nothing else, endless darkness. Hours, days, weeks, months, years passed - he didn't know, there was nothing to measure time by, but it felt like an eternity._

_Then there was pain, his body as broken as his mind. He looked around, found himself laying on the ground, rough stone under him, a strangely coloured sky above. Darkness came back, but this time it was the sweet oblivion of unconsciousness, the pain and hate and loneliness completely forgotten._

_When he woke up again, there were creatures - they called themselves Chitauri - dressing his wounds and talking to him. He hurt, everywhere, but the touch of another, no matter who it was, felt good after the eternity of falling through the endless nothingness, with no sensations at all, nothing to distract his mind._

_They mended his body, talked to him, and he ended up telling them everything that had happened: how he hated Odin for what he had done, that he had never told him about his true heritage. The Chitauri came back to that again, and again, and again, he knew that they were trying to build up his hate for their own purposes - he was a master at manipulation after all, he recognized when someone tried to manipulate him. But he didn't care, he had nothing left to lose, nothing to fight for._

_When his body finally was healed and they told him that they wanted to invade Midgard, he almost believed them that leading them there, using the Tesseract to create a portal for them to use, would be the ultimate revenge on the man who had called himself his father. Part of him knew that they were just using him, but he was still so broken inside, he didn't care._

_And when he hesitated, not sure if condemning an entire realm was the right thing to do, even for revenge, they threatened him. He was no coward, and he would have been able to withstand any torture, but they threatened to hurl him back into the darkness, make him fall again. And who knew if there would be someone else to break his fall this time, or if he would tumble through the endless nothing until there was nothing left of him. He shuddered at the mere thought of it, and agreed to help them._

_A portal was opened for him, just big enough that he could get to the Tesseract, too unstable to let through anyone else. He wanted to be done with this, to be free from their presence and threat forever, so he had decided to use the people that were already working with the Tesseract or protecting it._

_Controlling their minds had been the quickest, cleanest option he could see at the time, and once he had started and seen how easy it was to manipulate humans that way, he had kept doing it. He had chosen people suitable for his needs - scientists to create the portal, warriors to protect him and help him get to things he needed._

_Every day the Chitauri had pulled him back, at least his mind, but it felt as if he was really back with them. They kept threatening him, coercing him, never let him forget his anger and hate and fear - and he wanted nothing but to be rid of their influence._

Loki came back to the present, looked around at the Avengers who had listened so far without interrupting him. His gaze locked with Clint's.

"I regret now that I took over your mind and that of other people, Agent Barton. But at the time it was the only way I saw to reach my goal, and to be free of the Chitauri." He paused for a moment. "I am not asking you to forgive me, I know that I violated your mind and made you do things you would never do on your own. You might be a warrior, an assassin even, but you would never turn against your own people. For using you in that way, I apologize." Loki took a deep breath, then closed his eyes for a moment, before looking at Tony. "And now I need to be alone for a while." He stood up.

"Loki!" Clint's voice sounded almost hesitant. He waited until Loki turned back around to face him. "Thank you for telling us, that can't have been easy, I appreciate that." He looked down at his hands, then up at Loki again. "But I'm not ready to forgive you just yet. I may be able to forgive you for deciding to control me that way, for having me watch over you and the Tesseract, for making me kill armed guards - that is basically my job, just that I followed your orders in that case." A short pause. "The one thing I can't forgive is that you made me turn against SHIELD, against my friends. You used me to kill people I've known for years, people I trusted and who trusted me. That will be harder to forget."

"I understand, Agent Barton. And as I said before, I was not asking you to forgive me, I merely wanted all of you to see that things are not quite as black and white as you seem to think sometimes."

Clint laughed, a harsh sound, not really amused. "Believe me, we know all about shades of grey and doing what has to be done to reach our goals." His face turned serious again. "But this is too personal for me. Though it will make it easier for me to accept you here, to fight at your side. Part of me has been wondering if - no, when - you'd try to control any of us. That has been put at ease now, I believe you that you did it out of desperation and not to harm us with it."

Loki nodded once. "Thank you for listening and believing me, Agent Barton." He looked around once more. "I have to thank all of you for giving me a chance to explain." Then he turned around without waiting for a reply and teleported out of the room.

That left Tony and the rest of the team to stare at each other, all of them thinking about what they had just heard. Thor looked almost sick at the thought of what had happened to his brother, Steve and Bruce had a sad look on their face, even Natasha's expression had softened. She was now pulling Clint into a brief, one-armed hug.

They sat like that for a while, all lost in thought, then everyone left to their own quarters or to deal with the day's events in their own way.


	7. Lovers

Loki was gone for two days, unreachable on his phone, not at his apartment. Then, finally, Tony's phone rang while he was in the kitchen, making coffee. Unknown caller - Tony sighed with relief before he had JARVIS accept the call.

"Loki, good to hear from you." Tony took a mug out of the cupboard and filled it with freshly brewed coffee, then sat down at the breakfast bar.

"Tony." Loki's voice sounded a bit strange. "Can I visit and talk to you?"

"Since when do you have to ask?" Tony frowned. "You know you're always welcome here."

The call disconnected and Loki appeared in Tony's living room, instead of answering. He was wearing his armour, though no helmet.

"What's wrong?" Tony got up and took a few steps towards Loki, he was concerned.

Loki stepped away from him and sat down in an armchair. "I wish to talk, Tony." He looked tense. "This is important to me, please sit and listen for now."

Tony swallowed hard, but did as Loki had asked and sat on the sofa - close to Loki, but not getting into his personal space. Something was clearly wrong here and Tony didn't want to send Loki running before he knew what was going on. "Tell me," he prompted when Loki just looked at him for a few long moments.

"I am not quite sure where to start and how to explain this, I have been thinking about it for the last few days." Loki lowered his gaze and stared at his hands which he had clasped in his lap. "When I decided to tell my story to all of you, I showed a side of me that nobody really has seen in a long time. I have become rather adept at hiding it." He glanced up, then focussed on his hands again. "Except for you, around you I have let my guard down. And you have not given me a reason to regret that decision yet."

Tony was caught in between wanting to reach out for Loki to pull him into a hug and running away from this way too serious talk. He didn't do this, talking about his feelings - or the feelings of others, for that matter. Tony took a deep breath and leaned back into the sofa cushions to resist the urge to do either of the things he was tempted to do. Loki deserved that he listened to what he had to say.

"This," Loki swallowed hard, "this was different." He slowly lifted his head and looked Tony straight in the eyes. "I am not sure how to handle that so many people have seen that I am much more vulnerable than they previously thought." A shuddering breath made Tony's heart ache for him. "And I fear your friends might take advantage of this knowledge, they do not like me and it would be the perfect ammunition for them to use against me."

Tony slowly slid forward on his seat and reached out to take hold of one of Loki's hands. When Loki didn't pull away, he laced their fingers together and squeezed once. "You'll have to trust me on this: If you don't give them a reason to act against you in any way, they won't do or say anything to hurt you." Loki looked as if he wanted to say something, but Tony stopped him by raising his free hand. "No, now it's your turn to listen. While you were gone, I have talked to them, so I know what they think." He tugged gently at Loki's hand. "Will you lose the armour and come over here, please?"

Loki sighed, but complied. While he smoothly moved to sit next to Tony the armour vanished and was replaced by a well-worn pair of black jeans and a dark green t-shirt that Tony recognized as one of his own band shirts. He had to smile at that and pulled Loki close so he was leaning against Tony with Tony's arm around his shoulders.

"Much better, you don't have to shut yourself off from me." Tony dropped a kiss on Loki's hair. "And you really don't have to fear that any of my friends will use what you told them against you. We have agreed that we won't talk about it to anyone else, so SHIELD - and especially Fury - won't hear about it unless you tell them."

"Thank you, that was one of my concerns." Loki visibly relaxed in Tony's embrace.

"That's what friends do for each other - and they might not all be YOUR friends, but they are mine and they wouldn't hurt anyone who is important to me." Tony smiled. "And apart from that, Thor sees himself as your brother, no matter whether you're related by blood or not - and no matter what you think about it. He'd defend you against anyone who tried to harm you."

"Thick skulled oaf," Loki huffed, with no real heat behind his words.

"But he loves you, no matter what, that has to count for something." Tony paused, thinking for a moment. "I'm pretty sure that Bruce counts himself as your friend by now, if you will let him. Just think about how much time the two of you spend together."

"This is true, and I enjoy his company a lot more than I would have thought," Loki admitted.

"See," Tony continued. "Then there's Steve, he might not be your friend, but he sees you as an ally - maybe even as part of the team in battle. And he is nothing if not loyal to the people who fight at his side." Tony thought for a moment, on how to say the next part. "Natasha and Clint still resent you for what you've done to Clint, that is true." Again he stopped Loki from interrupting him. "But, and that's the important part, they accept that you are with me and that it would hurt me as well if they hurt you. That's why they will leave you alone, if you don't step on their toes. And Natasha wouldn't have given you the shovel talk if she hadn't accepted your presence."

"It did not sound as if she liked my presence in your life."

"Maybe not, but I'm an adult and she lets me make my own decisions. She doesn't have to like them to accept them." Tony lifted Loki's face with a finger under his chin and captured his lips in a soft kiss. Then he continued: "And you might not have noticed, but in the last fight Clint did his best to keep you safe - and not only so you could break the spell and end the horror of it all. He has told me as much."

"How can I believe that?" Loki whispered.

"You have to trust me on it, why should I lie to you?" Tony looked down at Loki. "I'm still not sure how to call whatever it is we have, but I know that I don't want to hurt you in any way." He hesitated for a second. "And no, I don't need to define it, I'm happy with the way we are - and I hope you are too."

"I am." Loki stretched his neck and lifted his face in an invitation for a kiss - Tony was more than happy to oblige.

They talked for a while longer, and at some point Loki seemed to actually believe that nobody would think less of him for being vulnerable and weak sometimes. Everyone was, and everyone had their own Achilles heel.

During the next few weeks, the Avengers proved that Tony hadn't lied to Loki - nobody mentioned what he had told them, nobody teased him. And Loki began to relax in their presence again. Nothing much had changed - Loki still avoided Thor, Natasha and Clint still avoided Loki - but somehow Loki had become part of the team, was called in by them every time they needed to fight yet another villain - even if Fury told them explicitly NOT to ask for Loki's help.

Tony and Loki still didn't talk about what it was between them, but they spent even more time together - and Loki could be found in Tony's apartment more often than not, even when Tony was busy in the workshop. Things just worked for them the way they were, why should they talk it to death? They didn't need a label for their relationship to make it work.


	8. Epilogue

Tony wakes up, Loki still curled up in his arms. As soon as he moves, Loki turns around and kisses him.

"Good morning. That was a nice surprise last night to find you here, but why didn't you come to the workshop?" Tony asks curiously.

"I asked JARVIS where I could find you and he told me that you were working on an important project and had asked not to be disturbed." Loki smiles at him and captures his lips in another short kiss. "I decided to wait here until you were done, but I must have fallen asleep."

"Hmmm..." Tony pulls Loki closer. "A pity you didn't disturb me, though I certainly didn't mind finding a naked god in my bed when I finally dropped into it." He grins. "Not that I was in any state to take advantage of it, way too tired."

Loki smirks at him. "Then you should take advantage of me now, before I change my mind and leave."

Tony laughs, then rolls them so Loki ends up on top of him. He pulls him down into a passionate kiss. "And what if I want you to take advantage of me?" Loki laughs and kisses him back.

When they emerge from the bedroom a while later, Tony hopes that there will be a lot more days that start like this one. It might have just been two months, but Loki is an important part of his life by now. And it seems that Tony is just an important part of Loki's life.


End file.
